Rocket launcher



p 1951 F. c. LINDVALL VET AL 2,568,455

ROCKET LAUNCHER Filed March 28, 1945 INVENTORS FEEDER/0K 0. LIIIDIMLLPAUL E. LLOYD Y E N R .0 A B Patented Sept. 18, 1951Lloyd;,Pasadena,;Calif., assignors. to the United Statesv of America. asreplfesent'edhy the. Sec- Aippltcatiom March. 2a,. 1945;. Serial no...585.27%. '1. cam. (01. 89 -117) This invention relates to a rocketlaunchenand. I

more particularly to a combination rocket-projectile packing,case-andlauncher or novel. constructiorr.

One of the principal reasons fonthewidespread. use of rockets in.warfare is the fact. thatthey; provide a relatively great fire. power?without the. use. of a heavy gun. This. permits their use; in.situations where the weight, size,. and difliculty of transport of a.large gun. wouldv make its;- use. impractical; .for instance.inmountain; and ju gle. fighting: or other warfare where the equipmentis carried by-the; troops themselves. Brevious. to this: invention,vwhen rockets were, used by such. troops it was necesary to carry:therocket projectiles intheir protective; casesami also-ta carry"separate rocket. launchers order to make: rocket-weapons better:adapted. to the. abqve; mentioned types of warfare, it. is. desirable tocom bine the case and; the launcher.

A combined. carrying; case and; launcher for rockets is described; inU..S; Patent 455 279 issued. to. P. Cunningham in. 1891. However; a.launch-, er of the type shown. in thatpatent must be. supported by someobj ect. andihencel is not completely self contained and is. not-readilyadapted for use under all circumstances. Furthermore, the patenteddevice has no means for correctly positioning. the launcher. inelevationfor anygivenarange.

It is an object of this invention to provide. a 1

a combined rocket launcher and carrying case which is entirely self?contained.

Another object of the invention is to provide. an. improved rocketlauncher which is made. of wood or other light-weight,readilyavailablematerial, and. which although capable of limitedrepeateduse, is sufficiently inexpensive that it.may be discarded after itsfirst use.

Another object of the invention. is to provide an improved rocketlauncher which may be quickly set up for operation and adjusted fordiiferent ranges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rocket launcher whichis particularly adapted; to launch rocket propelled devices havingelectrically initiated rocket motors of the type disclosed in anapplication of C. C. Lauritsen, Serial Number 481,645, filed April 2,1943, now Patent 2,469,350 of May 10, 1949.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. lis a perspective view of the improved packing case rocket launcher shownwith rocket projectiles and set up for operation;

2f Fig. 2 is; a longitudinal sectional. view of. tIieimproved; launchershown in Fig. 1;. but. with the, launcher at a-different angle of.elevation;

Fig.3 isxaplanv-iew of the launcher folded with.

V the cover removed. and one end open;

Eig. 4 is a. longitudinalsectional. view taken. on line ip-4- of. Fig.3. but with the cover. and. end. sections intheir closed positions;

Eig..- 5. is a cross-sectional view taken on line. 5-5: ofFig; 4";

Fig. 6.- is a fragmentary cross-sectional. viewof? the launchingv frametaken. on line 6-6 of showing: the supportin bracket. in. its unfolded.position; and;

Fig. .7 is a side elevational view of the. closed; packingcase.

In the drawings; the launcher: includes. a pack.- ing box or case formedof a rectangular flatbase. member ill having attachedtheretoupstand'ing. side. members. [2. and forward. end member [1%.The-rear end member- M is attached. to the base. [1. by. a..hinge i.5.-so: that it. may beopenedjout. as. shown inFigs. 1,, 2, and. 3. Saidrear end. member serves as. a blast shield, deflecting. the blast fromthe launcher to-avoiddamage adjacent. rockets when one. ofthem is firedand,, when the: launcher isbased on. the ground,;prev,ent looseningthesurface dirt and filling the atmosphere. with dust.- A cover I6 isprovided which fitsover the sides l2 and ends i3 and l4,.and isprovidedwith. marginal reinforcing cleats l1. Suitable. securing means (notshown) retain. the cover in. place.

Hinged to the, base ll near its rear end. is. a. launching frameindicated generally by the numeral 8.. The launching frame comprises twoedge. rails 19 and. parallel intermediate rails. 2.0. connectedabycentral and forward cross members. 21-, and by a rear cross member 22connected to base; H by a hinge 22a. The four rails. I9... 201 areadapted to support three rocketseach of which rests between a pair ofadjacent rails. the; supporting edgesof the rails being preferably bev618G150 provide larger contacting surfaces.

The launcher illustrated in Fig. 1 is adapted to receive threerocket-propelled projectiles. but may be constructed to receive anyother convenient number. Each projectile includes a casing or head Bcontaining an explosive or a chemical, and a rocket motor C connected tothe rear end of the head. The rear end of the rocket motor is providedwith radial fins which carry a pair of axially displaced rings D and Econnected by suitable wiring (not shown) to opposite sides,respectively, of the rocket motor igniter (not shown), the details ofthe rocket motor being disclosed in said Lauritsen application.

The cross member 22 at the rear end of the launching frame carries apair of electrical contacts for each projectile. The rear contact ofeach pair comprises a ,J-shaped metal clip 23 fastenedbyfits long'arm tothe upper face of the cross member 22, its short arm extendingforwardly. The rear ring D of the rocket motor fits withg in the clip,as shown in Fig. 2, and makes electrical contact with the clip. servesas a stop to position the rocket device on the launcher. Forward of eachcontact 23 isa resilient contact 24 which is L-shaped andli's attachedto the under side of cross member 22 with one leg extending upwardlythrough a hole in the cross member. Contact 24 engages the forward ringE of the rocket motor when the projectile is in position. The contacts24 are suitably connected to an electrical conductor 24a leading'througha firing switch (not shownl'to one side of a current source, which maybe at-' tached to the outside of the case. The other side ofthe currentsource and the contacts 23 may be grounded to complete the firingcircuit. 7

The launcher frame l8 in its stowed position lies flat on the basemember i l and is adapted to be elevated and supported in an inclinedoperating position by a bracket 25. The bracket comprises a cross member26 journaled in bearing plates'Z'I secured to the edge rails l9, and apair of legs 28 attached to the cross member 26 and which stow inforwardly extending positions he tweenadjacent rails I9 and with thefree ends of the'legs sprung inwardly. At their extremities, the legsare provided with outturned foot portions 29 which fit into holes 39provided in the sides I2 of the packing box. Th holes 30 are spacedlongitudinally along the sides so as to permit the launcher frame to besupported at various angles of elevation. The legs 28 are sufficientlyflexible so that they may be sprun inwardly and moved from one set ofholes to another to vary the elevation of the frame. As shown inFig. 1,

the range for each pair of holes may be marked bythe holes, usually inincrements of 50 yards.

One of the rails is provided at its forward end with alongitudinally-extending slot in which a' sighting stick 32 is pivotedby its forward end. The sighting stick is provided With a sightinggroove along its upper edge to assist in positioning the launcher intrain.

If desired, spirit levels (not shown) maybe provided on the packing caseto facilitate positioning of the casein a horizontal plane.

In operation, the packing case is set as level as possiblathe cover [6is removed, and the rear end I4 is opened outwardly. The launcher frameisthen raised to the desired elevation and thesighting stick is used toaim the launcher rails in'the desired direction. The packing box may beweighted down with a few rocks or shovelfuls of earth. The electricalconductors 2411 from the contacts 24 are suitably connected to a-current'10 Contact 23 also source, as mentioned above. In practice, several ofthe launchers may be used in conjunction with each other, and theelectrical control for each of the launchers becomes part of anelectrical network permitting firing of the rocket projectiles invarious predetermined patterns.

Virtually the entire packing case and launcher may be made of wood withonly a few metal pieces for reinforcement and electrical contact. Thusthe launcher is low in cost, being hardly more expensive than theconventional packing case alone. Because of its low cost, the launcherneed .beused only once, but actually may be used several times if theneed arises. Furthermore, the packing box type launcher is light inweight and exceedingly portable so that it may be used in places andunder conditions which would prohibit the use of any other known deviceof equal fire power and which would make it less practical to carryseparate launchers and rocket-packing cases.

We claim:

A unitary launcher and packing case for rockets consisting of arectangular box having a base and upstanding walls one of which ishinged for fiat opening to provide a blast deflector, a pluralrailedlaunching frame on which rockets are.

racked for packaging and firing, said frame fitting withinthe box fortransportation and having a hinge connection with thebase adjacent tothe hinged wall and being swingable on said'hinge' connection to assumepredeterminedly pitched firing positions relative to the base, bearingplates depending from said frame, a cross member journaled in saidplates, and legs extending away from the cross member and havingout-turned foot portions. said legs being flexed outwardly to exercisepressure against oppositewalls of the box when sprung inwardly forstowage, said walls' having a distributed series of matching holes, inselected pairs of which the foot portions are held by the tension of thelegs'after flexure inwardly for insertion of said portions in saidselected holes to sustain the frame at the chosen pitch.

' FREDERICK C.- LINDVALL.

PAUL E. LLOYD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS France Sept. 27, 1937

